Media Center
Related Topics
Related Stories
On a hot summer afternoon recently, Barry Longenecker pointed to a Providence Township dairy and talked about the latest front in the anti-puppy mill movement.
Dog poop on farms.
Many dog breeders in the county also raise vegetables and livestock. Many spread dog waste on their fields, said Longenecker, coordinator of the citizens group PACK, (Providence Against Cruel Kennels).
The nutrient-laden stuff can run off into streams and contribute to algae blooms, a huge problem in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Longenecker's group asserts in addition that dog feces contains more potentially harmful microbes than manure from cows, pigs, chickens or goats.
It's an environmental plague and public health risk, according to kennel opponents, who say they're horrified by the idea that dog waste fertilizes local crops.
The unsavory array of organisms in canine waste includes salmonella, giardia, hookworms and roundworms.
PACK emphasized poop this summer in its opposition to Country Boy Kennel, which is operated by Country Boy Farm owner Jonas Esch.
Township supervisors OK'd the kennel last month, saying they had insufficient legal grounds to overturn a special zoning exception.
But dog dung, seldom discussed in the past, appears to be claiming a wider stage as Harrisburg tightens controls on kennels.
Officials from the state departments of agriculture and environmental protection and the State Conservation Commission have formed a working group to study how to regulate the waste and determine whether it really does pose unique dangers, said Doug Goodlander, commission director of nutrient and odor management programs.
PACK intends to lobby local and state officials this fall to take a firmer hand in curbing dog leavings.
"Basically, this is solid waste applied to the land," Longenecker said. "It's behind somebody's barn. It's a hidden source."
Different animalPACK is pursuing other avenues to regulate dog breeding, such as drafting a model kennel ordinance in partnership with Providence Township.
And it hasn't forgotten the central theme of the puppy mill fight.
Reducing animal abuse remains a core goal, acknowledged Longenecker, who trains dogs and strongly supports anti-cruelty measures.
However, he said, the less visible impacts of kennels on host communities have received scant attention.
Those impacts are thought to be considerable.
Between 200 and 300 licensed dog breeders operate here, according to the Lancaster County Humane League.
A PACK map compiled from state Department of Agriculture data shows 198 kennels sited near streams countywide, with the greatest concentration in the northeast.
One 150-dog kennel generates at least 27,000 pounds of fecal matter a year, PACK estimates, and Pennsylvania-issued permits allow many operations to raise hundreds of dogs.
Esch's state kennel license allowed him to house 500 dogs in 2008, according to published accounts.
PACK member Kelly Charles sampled water downstream from the Esch farm, she reported to Providence Township supervisors in July; an analysis by Pure-Test Water Laboratory showed high levels of coliform bacteria, including E. coli.
Esch could not be reached for comment Friday.
Dog advocates say many breeders simply combine dog waste with livestock manure and spread it on their farm fields.
That's like mixing apples and oranges, according to an Elizabethtown businesswoman preparing to open a dog day care and boarding center on about 13 wooded acres in Mount Joy Township.
Municipal regulations required the installation of holding tanks big enough to contain waste from 60 dogs, Laurie Yost said.
The specialized disposal system costs thousands of dollars, according to Yost, who questioned why dog breeders/farmers aren't held to the same standards.
"Dog waste, from everything I've learned, is a whole different animal," she said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency apparently agrees.
"While animal manures can make useful fertilizer," states a 2001 fact sheet from the agency, "parasites carried in dog and cat feces can cause diseases in humans" and should be kept out of compost piles and gardens.
People who buy sick puppies from kennels face the greatest danger of coming into contact with pathogens such as roundworm eggs, Lancaster veterinarian Tom Gemmill said.
Roundworms, in rare cases, can migrate through the body and cause nerve damage or blindness.
"Anybody downstream" from a dog waste source is at risk from microbes, however, said Gemmill, who, like Yost, is a member of United Against Puppy Mills.
"One hundred percent of puppies have roundworms. The roundworms are almost impossible to destroy" and can survive many winters in the soil, noted Gemmill, who added that breeders who dispose of dog carcasses on their land pose another worry.
Nutrient management laws governing animal waste on farms currently apply to fecal matter from both livestock and dogs, according to Goodlander, the State Conservation Commission official.
But the regulations pertain only to operations with high animal densities per acre.
Many dog breeding operations are on small Amish farms that fall under the radar, dog advocates point out.
DEP spokeswoman Lauri Lebo acknowledged that "the state's in a little bit of a gray area" on the matter.
Dog waste is deemed municipal waste, she said, and some kennels do bag it and send it to a landfill.
However, she added, "there are no regulations that say you can't spread it."
It's unclear how proposals to strengthen state oversight of the bay cleanup will shape the dog droppings debate.
New initiatives probably won't impact it directly, said Lamonte Garber, agricultural program manager for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in Pennsylvania.
On the other hand, Garber said, more attention will be paid to everything that goes into the water.
And that's a good thing.
"We certainly want to see all of the animal waste from all of the animals on a particular farm be managed properly," Garber said.
Jon Rutter is a staff writer for the Sunday News. His e-mail address is jrutter@lnpnews.com.
(111)
